Micah J. Sturm

Being born makes me a member of the human race, but will I be humane?

Enrollment in school makes me a student, but will I learn?

Getting hired makes me an employee, but will I work?

A wedding ceremony makes me a spouse, but will I have a marriage?

Leaving the hospital with a baby makes me a father, but will I be a daddy?

Receiving Christ into my heart makes me a Christian, but exactly how Christian will I be?

Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of God who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper…” (John 14:15).

“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:8).

Paul preached, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passion and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-25).

As a boy I heard a preacher say, “Sitting in a church house makes you no more a Christian than sitting in a hen house makes you a chicken!”

Christ’s Church is not a structure, a denomination, or a code. It’s where the crucified and risen Jesus transforms lives and sends them out to be His reflection.

There are depths of God’s grace we have not experienced, there are possibilities we have not imagined, and the Lord invites us to be more like Him!

Let all Christians crave Christlikeness!

May we move out of the minimum requirements and into the maximum possibilities!